A lazy Friday when I finally have time to post something new..

OH MY GOD. It has been so long since I've posted, but I've been so busy! I have no idea how people write on thier blogs every day.

My feelings about being here have not changed much, which is good. I absolutely love Moscow and living in a city. I have exactly three months left today, and I finally feel like I am starting to get the hang of things. The Metro, my classes, and my sense of where things are have improved so much since the first couple of weeks I was here (Thank god, I would have died otherwise.)

In the past couple of weeks I have....
1. Gone to a German ballet called "Giselle," which was okay, but the second Act was so amazing. All of the ballerinas were dressed like ghosts in dim lighting and the set was beautiful. I, of course, had/have no idea what was going on, but it was sick and I'm really happy I went.
2. Finally gotten used to Russian food. I eat potatoes and bread to the degree that would make Atkins actually stab himself in the face... AND I LOVE IT.
3. Gone to a few VERY fun clubs. Last Saturday, we went to this club Propaganda with two of our new (very cool) British friends and we all had a blast. I might or might not have gotten back at 7AM....
4. Gone to Katherine the Great's summer house which was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO beautiful. She had a pretty much full house sized building just to watch fireworks from. Not a big deal.
5. Gotten a gym membership and went to the gym for the first time today. I could write essays about how funny the experience was. I also felt really cool because the treadmills measure the distance in Kilometers and I felt like I was going soo fast.
6. Met a lot of new people!!


Anyway, I am going to try and start posting more because I know everything is more fun/entertaning to read about with more detail. The weekend should bring great fun and I will post as soon as I can!!

It's been nine days!?!???

HELLO ALL. So.... this has taken me so long to update! I'm very sorry... things are crazy with getting settled and realizing HOLY %^& I AM IN RUSSIA.

Anyway... I got here August 27th which seems like literally years ago. I flew on Aeroflot (a Russian airline), so I jumped right into the Russian world. Flight was good blahblah. They lost my bag, but then it was found so yay.

Onto more interesting things. I am living with a host family consisting of a Mother and her daughter Alina. They are awesome. Alina is fluent in English, but we all speak Russian 95% of the time which has already been so great for my Russian. Living here for just a week has taught me so much about Russian culture and the Russian household such as...

1. Do not EVER wear shoes in the house.. I was given little slippers that have a cartoon cat on them and say "100% Sweet" that they gave to me first thing that I wear around the house.

2. After you are out (and you put your slippers on) the very first thing you do is wash your hands when you get into the house. No questions asked. Being the germa-phob I am.... this has been wonderful and nothing far from the norm, but a lot of my friends have struggled with it.

3. The more food you eat, the better. If you are offered seconds of dinner for example, you pretty much have to take them. Again, as all of you know not even a slight problem for me.

4. No matter what apartment you go to... there will be 8420280023 locks and buttons to get in and out.

5. Certain foods you must like or pretend to like: Sour Cream, Dill, Beets, Potatoes.

That is just the beginning.

Moving on, the reason I decided to blog today is because we finally had our placement exam. Last week, we all walked A LOT, brushed up on our Russian, braved the Metro, etcetc. Wednesday is when the real deal begins. The placement test was pretty much hellishly diffucult, but whatever.

More on class and all that boring stuff later. I have been very brief about what we have done this past week. We.... (in non-chronological order to put it lightly)

1. Went on an AMAZING boat tour on the Moscow River. We saw so much. It was an hour and a half of glory.

2. Went to various "garden bars" and drank as the Russians do... pretty much the only even slightly cheap form of alcohol in Moscow.

3. Saw MGGU and toured the school. Boring.

4. Celebrated the Birthday of Moscow yesterday and went to the most AMAZING concert of marching bands that were from all over the world from Norway to China to Mexico. The best bands were Mexico, Greece, China, Norway, and, of course, all of the ones from Moscow (see photos on Facebook).

5. Tasted all kinds of Russian food....... the great, the bad, and the just plain weird.

6. Walked pretty much everywhere one can imagine in Moscow.

And so much more! Now I am procrastinating and I have to go do work but more to come soon!!

The (tragically brief) layout

So... I lied. I am posting more before I leave and while I am still boring in the US. I am figuring stuff out and I decided to add an oh-so complex visual aid to show you all where I will be living and going to school in Moscow.




Below is a map of the Moscow Metro. The purple circle at the top is around where I will be going to school at the Moscow University for the Humanities. The other purple circle I added to this oh-so advanced visual aid is to the Southwest is where I will be living with a woman and her daughter for the semester.

If you are wondering.... yes, I am nervous because where I am living will be pretty far from school. Looking on the bright side, however, I will hopefully have to challenge my not so snazzy sense of direction and learn how to get around. It will just be a work in progress.

Less than a week!!

Hey everyone! It is my last Sunday in the States. I can't say I am preparing for Russia yet, but I am mentally getting there.... sort of? Anyway, no one really cares about me in the US, so I will post when the real Russia has begun on August 27th!