first week kinda

Ok guys. I’ve fallen in love with Russia already.

I love it here!!!! I’ve kind of got a schedule now which is helpful. I wake up and go running (Yesterday I ran to red square, then along the river, then picked a random metro stop to go home on!!!! SOOOO FUN!!!!) then I come home, get ready, zaftrokat with Lidiya, and head to the metro. School and then hmwk, and then EXPLORING!!!!!!

OK, so I will probably only get online once a week because it takes up a lot of time and I find that once I sit down, it takes at least an hour and that is just not cool to be spending all that time on the computer…anyway, it seems like after classes all the students spend hours on the computer and I just peace out and have fun!

Anyway, highlights of the last couple of days.

Tuesday was our first day of real class. The teachers are cool (I have two-one for practice and one for grammar). Anyway, we were divided into two groups and I was in the more “advanced” one and well, the discussion we had about the division of the classes was a good demonstration og Russian teachers. Our practice teacher Vladmir asked us, “are you’re other classmates lazy? Why don’t they understand Russian.” We thought it was a rhetorical question but he wanted us to answer it. We kind of all looked around awkwardly and didn’t know how to respond. Anyway, we heard he completely chewed out the other class and we all felt bad for them, but whatev. We also learned some new Russian vocab when listening to his theory of the CIA blowing up the twin towers ;) haha, that class is pretty entertaining to tell you the truth…Vlad Vlad and I get along great…haha…it’s funny because I think he’s a really nice guy, it’s just that if he were to say the things he says in the states, kids would be going home crying.

So later that day we checked out the grocery store-why does food (especially sweets) look so good in foreign countries???? Holy crap they have amazing breads and sweets.

New favorite pop: Fanta asian apple. Seriously. Вкусно!

OK, so later that day Chandler and I wanted to do a walk from his house to downtown. We walked for an hour and a half until we ended up on the northwest by the zoo which is probably in the most opposite direction of downtown we could have gone ;) It was fun though and we almost got a two hour walk in there!!!! I think I’m going to go to the zoo on Friday or something cause it’s way cheap and looks fun.

Wednesday I did more exploring with chandler…it was fun but I forgot my scarf to go inside some churches which was kind of frustrating, but whatev, there will be time. And we stumbled across this building which was well, when you look at it it is the “great and spacious.” We tried to go in but couldn’t and it was pouring outside so we were going to try and find the metro. So I went and asked this man where the metro was, and once he heard my accent he started asking us where we were from and stuff and invited us to go in the building with him. (he was obviously a man of connections) anyway, we went to the highest floor which was a restaurant that looked like it was probably a million dollars to order anything. Men in business suits were just lounging around these beautiful tables in the ground and couches as benches smoking hooka…it was crazy. Anway, the view from that building was seriously the best view in the city. You could see everything. When I walked out, I said that it was so cool, and Chandler said he was sad that existed. It got me thinking…it is crazy to me that Moscow can have the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor.

OH ya, and we had our first politics lecture which was pretty cool. Russia is just one big revolution…the history is so rich…sometimes I forget how young of a country America is.

Thursday, well, after class I did my hmwk and jst about collapsed when I was walking to the metro…I needed some serious sleep. When I got home I felt like I could sleep for hours but I knew that would be bad aso I got up and went to this free English play later that night about the life of a Russian poet. All I can say is that there were some amazing lines like, “You Russians are just a bunch of vampire poets” and “your lonliness makes me hot.” Anyway, I was trying to contain my laughter the whole time-the heavy Russian accents didn’t help either, neither did Chandler writing distracting notes the whole time. Anyway, she hangs herself in the end, and I walked out of the theatre laughing. I may have missed the point of the play.

Later we went to red square. I will probably say this a thousand times, but it is heavenly.

Friday I got up and ran then met up with those Russian girls at 1 to go to (umm I actually forgot the name) but it was another kremlin or fortress in the northeast. There was a huge “flea market” and there were some pretty cheap things…my highlight of this was definitely the vodka museum. Seriously, I didn’t realize what a huge part of their history vodka played. And still plays. When I come out of my apartment in the moringn to run, there’s always someone there drinking still from the night before.

Anyway, after that we went to the look out point of the city on the south…I keep forgetting the names of these places, but I’ll get them down when I visit again.

Saturday, running and then we all went to Grant Lundbergs to have dessert and discuss and problems we may be having. It was fun, but we spent like 4 hours there, and then when we walked out to have dinner together, we had to switch back to Russian which messed with my mind. Later we went to “diskotyeka” for the young adults and it was SO fun. It was funny because it was like way worse than any church dance in the states because there are like no members, but the elektronika music is so fun to dance to. The Russian girls I met this week are going to show me where to go dancing on the weekends and I’m stoked…it reminds me of that scene from Good Will Hunting (if you remember) when he’s describing to the psychologist the way he feels when he goes dancing…

So today we did a tour of the city so we didn’t go to church. It was the only time to do it because Sunday is the only semi-reasonable day to drive around. It was also necessary to do it as soon as possible because they basically helped us give direction to our exploring.

I’ll take pictures of the red square mall later, but it’s freaking high class. I got to go inside Armani and look at 2000 $$$$$ shoes. Haha. Ya freaking right.

Tonight we went to a fireside of a new area authority (who used to be atheist) and it was about marriage. Hmmm…everywhere I go.

And here I am…I’ve been on this computer for two hours. So I’m just going to do this once a week and use it as a journal and kill two birds with one stone…

And here are some pics.

Oh ya, of course I love you all!!!!!!!!!!